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How Is Jem Presented In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Jem is described as a very peculiar character. From Scout’s eyes we, as readers, can identify what personality traits and characteristics Jem has. He is shown to be a masked, figure, hiding his own fears to act more valiant or noble. With the use of characterization, readers can visualize and depict what kind of person and character that Jem is. Readers catch this in chapter four, when Jem, Scout, and Dill are creating the “Boo Radley” game. “Jem’s head at times was transparent; he had thought that up to make me understand he wasn’t afraid of Radley’s in any shape or form, to contrast his own fearless heroism with my cowardice”(Lee 43). Despite Jem’s deceptive and misleading character, it is aforementioned that Jem is a “normal” kid. He loves playing football, climbing trees, and getting rough and dirty. …show more content…

This attitude was very common, as woman and girls were treated as though men were the supreme or superior gender. However, the readers cannot blame Jem for this as this was the time frame that he grew up with, along with having slaves and not giving rights to blacks. Moreover, from the quote, readers can identify, with the use of words such as “transparent” and “fearless heroism”, that Jem is a very obnoxious or disingenuous. The author makes it very clear that Jem is a very ambitious and almost controlling person. He is assertive, and listens to society’s roles tremendously, and it very much has contrived who he is. Through Scout’s eyes, we are able to imagine who Scout is as a person, and as an elder brother. It leaves the reader with many questions. What does a younger, female sister do when faced with an older, male-dominant brother? Is it harder? How was Jem exposed to social norms as a

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984 Words | 4 Pages

At the start of the novel Jem and Scout's relationship together is amazingly solid. We find that Jem is to a great degree protective over his little sister and would do anything to prevent her from getting hurt. A case of Jem's protective side is when Scout discovers gum in the tree hole and Jem immediately tells her to 'spit it out right now!' followed by telling her to 'go gargle – right now, you hear me?' He talks about all the gossip of the town, for the most part about Boo Radley and we see that he has an extremely distinctive imagination.

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987 Words | 4 Pages

Another thing was big and that really standed out by Jem was the way he would try to protect his sister. When they go attacked he would try to get up and help Scout out of her costume so she could run away, another thing is that he would fight back to when they got attacked to the point where he got knocked out. In the beginning of the book Jem go over his fear of the Radley’s house. Him and his sister would also try to avoid getting near the

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1068 Words | 5 Pages

To begin, after the fire at Miss Maudie’s, Jem learns that Boo Radley put a blanket around Scout, he decided to come clean. “Jem seemed to have lost his mind. He began pouring out our secrets right and left in total discretion for my safety, if not his own, omitting nothing, knot-hole, pants and all”(Lee 98). This demonstrates Jem’s maturity because he did not have to tell Atticus everything about what they have done to Boo Radley, but because he felt bad because they had the wrong impression of Boo he told Atticus everything. The second time is after Jem looked like he would bother Boo Radley and Atticus told him not to Jem decided that he would leave Boo Radley alone.

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658 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the story, Jem (taken from the word gem meaning a cherished and prized person) is used by Harper Lee as a representation of courage. In the beginning, Jem’s first act of courage occurs when Jem accepts Dill’s provocation to go and touch the Radley house. In the story, Scout says, “In all his life, Jem has never declined a dare” (Lee 16). This quote shows how Jem would never demur any sort of challenge, even if it involved stupid or childish acts like going to a forbidden place. Scout also shows how Jem even accepted a dare from her to jump off the roof of the house as a kid.

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434 Words | 2 Pages

Jem starts to see himself as an older person and he participates in the gossip around town, most of which consist of Boo Radley. Part of him is still childish in a sense that he still imagines Boo as some type of savage. When “Jem was twelve” he starts to annoy Scout “he was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody” (Lee 153). Scout is having problems with his new attitude, but all Atticus said was that he was a growing boy. Not only did Jem grow physically, but now he was growing mentally, worldly, and more responsible.

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811 Words | 4 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem grows from a little boy to an intelligent young man. Throughout the book, he discerns many things that shape his personality. As Jem grows, he learns how bad society is and that not everyone is perfect. Fortunately for Jem, this ends up helping him and he finds out that Atticus is a hero and that he should look up to Atticus. Through Atticus and the trial, Jem loses his innocence by learning about prejudice, bravery, and that the justice system is crippled.

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464 Words | 2 Pages

When we went in the house, I saw he had been crying; his face was dirty in the right places, but I thought it odd that I had not heard him.” Jem was physically broken from the truth and was confused with why Nathan Radley had done that. As a child Jem thought only the truth was told by everyone, so when this happened he was hurt that someone would do such a

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616 Words | 3 Pages

In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many characters that mature and develop throughout the book. One of them is Jeremy Finch who is also known as Jem. At the beginning of the book Jem acts like a young kid would, and is often playing or hanging out with Scout and Dill whether it is the fun games they play over the summer, or just wrestling and play fighting with each other. As Jem grows up he starts putting himself in other people’s shoes and starts to question everything around him. He also begins to show more control over Scout and Dill when he spends time with them since they are younger then him.

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520 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scout 's perception of courage drastically changes their behavior as they mature. They learn a lot about courage throughout the novel from their father Atticus and what they learn from him influences their choices and opinions. Although Jem is older than Scout, they both experience change in their behavior. At the beginning of the novel, Jem is still a young boy. He is defiant towards Atticus, he plays all the usual childhood games with Scout and Dill, and he engages in the younger children’s obsession with Boo Radley.

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645 Words | 3 Pages

52) this shows that jems curiosity of a child forces him to try to become friends with somebody who wants to stay away from everybody.jem is full of joy and acts like this because he doesn’t pay attention to the people who tell him things he continues to be like this because he enjoys his childhood messing with people and playing in school with friends jem ,scout, dill go in the radley house because they think Boo is actually a nice person and wants to be friends with

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864 Words | 4 Pages

Scout looks up to Jem, greatly values his opinion on many different topics and trusts him completely. She follows his lead on may things such as when Atticus enquire about the nature of a game they are playing which depicts Boo Radley , “ Jems evasion told me our game was a secret so I kept quiet.” (Page 45) Jem in turn enjoys spending time with her and adores her.

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592 Words | 3 Pages

Character Analysis Essay Jem represents the idea of bravery in the novel, and the way that his definition changes over the course of the story is important. The shift that occurs probably has as much to do with age as experience, although the experiences provide a better framework for the reader. When the story begins, Jem's idea of bravery is simply touching the side of the Radley house and then only because "In all his life, Jem had never declined a dare." But as the story progresses, Jem learns about bravery and being helpful from Atticus facing a mad dog, from Mrs. Dubose's fight with addiction, and from Scout's confrontation with the mob at the jail, among others.

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822 Words | 4 Pages

Jem, a young and smart boy develops and matures through many unique situations in the novel. Jem is exposed to the harsh belief, judgement and circumstances of the court at a very young age. Following his father, Jem involves himself in the trial between Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell yet takes Tom’s side due to his father's involvement. Jem slowly loses faith in the justice system and is faced with a loss of innocence as explained by Scout“It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd.

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762 Words | 4 Pages

and you see it through no matter what” (Lee 112). In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem transforms from a helpful young kid, such as when Atticus had to pay Jem to take Scout to school, to a responsible teenager primarily due to the trial of Tom Robinson vs. Mayella Ewell. At the beginning of the book Jem is seen by the audience as a child, he plays in the tree house, he acts out different games, and he plays with other kids including Dill and his sister.

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335 Words | 2 Pages

During the Tom Robinson trial, Jem shows tremendous bravery in his willingness to admit his views on the situation. Doing so meant defying the social rules of the time and subjecting himself to the ridicule that came with siding against the popular opinion. The story’s subplot, the Radley conflict, illustrates the growth it took to bring Jem to this moral standpoint. At the beginning of the novel, Jem frequently mentions the rumors regarding the Radley place and its inhabitants, believing them though there is little evidence to support the claims. Even though Jem daringly ventured past the fence, he still holds the same beliefs as the other schoolchildren; the Radleys and their home are dangerous and should be feared.

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